The Steart Marshes nature reserve is an innovative response to dealing with the squeeze on wildlife along the coasts in the UK - read more about it here: Wetland Reserve - Steart Marshes.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) are managing the nature reserve and visitor centre at Steart but this comes with its own challenges. The visitor centre needs toilet facilities but whilst there is water into the site, there is no facility to take foul water away from the site.

JPR were contracted by WWT to develop a suitable water treatment system for the effluent from the public toilets.

The system developed runs through a vertical flow bed with a recycled glass media to a swale and pond system. The final treatment of the waste water is via a willow bed.

The solution is working very well and has the following advantages:

energy use is low

it is natural-looking and in-keeping with the surroundings

the use of native plants encourages biodiversity

the water is treated to a high quality

everything is kept on site which means that no local sewage system is necessary

The solution also means that no soakaway is necessary which has avoided the potential problem of waste water leaching into the local ditch network.

JPR has achieved the aim of a low energy, natural sewage treament system and the clients are very happy with the result.

We have extensvie experience of water treatment systems including installing, managing and planting reedbeds, installing and retro-fitting SuDS systems and willow treatment beds. Our staff have worked on water treatment systems of all sizes.